


Sacrificial Lambs

by SamuelJames



Category: Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2013-04-01
Packaged: 2017-12-07 05:25:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/744775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamuelJames/pseuds/SamuelJames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>None of their cases are easy but this killer is proving particularly adept at evading capture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacrificial Lambs

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Sacrificial Lambs  
> Pairing/Characters: Joe Chandler/Emerson Kent, Ray Miles, Finlay Mansell, Megan Riley.  
> Rating: 18+  
> Summary: None of their cases are easy but this killer is proving particularly adept at evading capture.  
> Warning: Some gory details of murders relating to the team's work.  
> Disclaimer: Whitechapel is the property of its creators. No copyright infringement is intended.  
> Archiving Information: Please do not archive elsewhere on the net.

Joe Chandler is leaning against the wall when his partner comes looking for him.

"Everything okay?"

"Just need a minute. Not very professional I know but that house. I feel like my hands are glowing with dirt."

Emerson takes out a bottle of hand sanitiser.

"Thank you."

He takes off his gloves and squirts a small dollop onto his hands. He talks as he rubs it in. "This stuff helps though I often wonder about the 0.1% it doesn't kill. I don't think I even touched anything before I put my gloves on but when I saw the rats I had to get out. Are there any more?"

"Just the three you saw, we think."

Joe takes a deep breath. "Better get back in there. We've got to get this guy. I am sick of being several steps behind him. There has to be something we've missed."

Emerson shrugs. "They could be random, purposely avoiding a pattern. Mansell found the cross though, a few minutes ago. This time it was painted on the inside of a cupboard door in what we think is blood. I mean the colour, if it's not blood then I don't want to meet the person who'd choose that shade of paint for anything."

It's entirely possible that the crosses are in no way related to the killings and are there just there to throw them off. However it wouldn't be the first time a sadistic murderer thought they were cleansing the world.

"Do you need another minute, Joe?"

"No. Thanks for finding me."

It takes some effort to step over the threshold. Logically he knows the rats can come out but outside seems cleaner, safer. He spends the next thirty minutes going from room to room checking on his team and trying to see what is similar or different to the other cases. There are two toothbrushes in the bathroom, the only indication that anyone other than the deceased might have lived here. It's possible a guest might have used it but like the others Mr Akhtar seems to have lived alone. If being single is the only common factor, then the killer has a huge target group that up until two months ago would have included him. Thinking of Emerson makes him smile briefly.

"Sir! They're taking the body now."

Going downstairs to his sergeant he asks, "anything useful?"

Miles shakes his head. "Maybe the forensics guys will find something but I'm not holding my breath."

"I hate forensically aware killers."

"Me too, sir."

Back in the office Joe feels guilty about being relieved that nobody can find a next of kin for Mr Akhtar. At least he won't have to talk any relatives out of wanting to see the body. There are no nice killings but the guy they're after is big on mutilation. It's so frustrating to have to hope he'll make a mistake. None of his team are happy that it might take more murders to catch this guy.

Day passes into evening without any developments and though Joe is loathe to leave the office, he agrees with Miles that the team will be better off getting some sleep. Emerson shuts down his computer and puts on his coat but hangs back after the others leave.

"You don't need to make sure I actually leave."

"Yes I do. Otherwise I'll find you asleep at your desk again."

"There'll be no argument from me tonight. I've just read the same page three times and can't focus."

As he drives, Joe brings up the issue of the second toothbrush. "Do you think it means anything?"

"Not sure. It's possible he just never threw the other one away."

The DNA results will tell them if there was a second person using it but Joe isn't good at waiting. Sometimes it'd be easy if life was like CSI and the results came back quickly.

"Thanks again for the hand gel. Did you just have it because of my... for me?"

"Yeah. With you the way to a man's heart isn't through his stomach, it's through cleanliness."

"True." Emerson has seen him at his fussiest as one teacher used to call it. Having someone understand his OCD makes a huge difference. "Apparently there are rats everywhere and I've seen them in the tube stations but that's the first time I've ever encountered any so close to me. Am I dropping you home?"

"I'll stay at yours if that's okay. My flatmates are having a small get together which is a euphemism for an all night party."

"Of course it's okay, Emerson."

When Joe passes the turn he would have had to take to drop his partner home he smiles.

The next day brings the discovery of another body thanks to an anonymous tip. The woman is very badly decomposed but unlike the others there is no cross. It's possible that this was one of his earlier kills. If so, it's their best chance for evidence. They all hope they're dealing with someone who might have made a mistake early on.

It's another long and frustrating day that leads to Joe ordering in pizza for the team at nine o' clock. As always he takes the smaller personal pizza for himself. He sees Miles pick up a slice that Riley had touched just moments before and squirms. It'd be easier sometimes if he didn't care about cleanliness so much. For the second night in a row he sends his team home late and Emerson comes home with him again.

He's rather pleased that Emerson has some spare clothes at his. It's not anything near being moved in but he's enjoying it as a nice in between step. They avoid discussing the case altogether and though it's late neither of them can sleep. They end up watching some DIY SOS repeat as an alternative to the news. As they're getting ready for bed, Joe's phone rings. Someone has commented on a story on the Daily Mail website and people have been tweeting about the murders mentioned. They get redressed and head back to the station to greet their tired colleagues.

"Miles, do we have screenshots of everything in case the comments are removed?"

"Yes, sir. Someone called him out on it and he replied mentioning the crosses. He says there are twelve stations of the cross and twelve special souls must be sacrificed in order to honour the sacrifice Jesus made. It means another five or six to go."

"Depending on if we count today's gruesome discovery?"

"Yeah."

The team go over everything again and look for possible hidden meanings in the killer's comment. Riley does a test to see if she can comment.

"They do make you register to comment but if he's as smart as he seems to be, he'll have used an e-mail address we can't trace."

"Thanks, Riley." Miles turns back to his computer. "Riley does it show the e-mail address linked to him?"

"No."

"Does anyone think it matters that he chose a Kim Karwhatsherface story to post on?"

Kent shrugs. "Probably that she's written about far too much."

Joe smiles at that interaction. He has Mansell watching Twitter and the consensus seems to be that it might be a hoax till someone tweets that they're a neighbour of Mrs Allen, victim number three. She sends several tweets about the police activity at the house, saying a dishy detective and a work experience detective spoke to the neighbours about what they saw. The team good naturedly tease Kent about his youthful looks but they're all aware of what this means. With it being all over the internet this guy has sparked a panic. Joe checks his e-mails, expecting one or two from the borough commander. There's a short e-mail from Dr Llewellyn saying that there was a gold crucifix among the remains. Her vague wording makes his brain recall the badly decomposed body and he shakes his head. It won't help, that image will stay with him forever.

When Easter Sunday comes and goes without the discovery of more bodies they hope the killer has stopped. Three days later their hopes are dashed when a family of five are discovered dead. The only woman in the house has a prayer card pinned to her tights. It's different from the others but there are five crosses and similar mutilations.

Miles shakes his head as someone photographs the bodies. "How did my job become so much blood and guts that I now recognise signature types of mutilation?"

"I don't know," Joe replies. "That's our team though, anything a bit weird they give it to us. He's got his twelve now. Should we be relieved?"

"If he's really a religious zealot who thinks these murders are church sanctioned then yes but if he's a psycho who happened to hit his stride round Easter we're screwed. The snow's caused havoc for the rest of us and he's flitting about all over the place disembowelling people. Easter's supposed to be about church and chocolate."

There's much discussion about how he could control five people which leads to speculation that he might be known to the family. Joe likes a challenge but if he's really done and over with they haven't gotten anywhere near catching him. Back at the office he closes his door and organises the files the way he wants so he can review them. He glances up after the third and sees Kent, Miles and Riley having an animated discussion. His lover is walking from board to board, probably pointing out something to support his own theory. All the team have them, from it being a born again Christian to someone trying to discredit the church. Mansell agrees with Miles about the killings possibly continuing.

Picking up the fourth file he tries to focus. Joe knows that the compulsion to kill is not something that serial killers can ignore for long. He moves onto the fifth file and then the sixth. Nothing new stands out to him. The discovery of the family scuppers their single people connection. Maybe the murders are truly random. They've found men, women and now children. Some victims were professionals, two were students at different colleges. He's targeted black, white and Asian people. If they're dealing with a mission oriented killer they might not have to worry about further murders.

As the week goes on, their hopes of finding the killer drop dramatically. Some other news replaces them on Twitter and there's no sign of the killer online. He and Kent have their first fight when Joe snaps at him. Kent goes home and refuses to speak about anything non-work related the next day. Another case comes in, an easy one this time and the quick arrest is a small morale boost.

On April 8th, after an entire weekend of Kent refusing to answer any of his texts, Joe's week gets off to a bad start. The peace of his office is shattered by the phone and a bollocking from the Chief Superintendent.

He glances up while still on the phone and sees the team arriving en masse. Maybe they were summonsed too. Some sharp words pull his attention back to the call.

"Yes, sir. I understand how it makes us look.... I'll let my team know what happened but you must acknowledge that we don't police You Tube... Yes, that is a lot of views... I'll look at it after our call... Yes, sir... Yes, the public can trust us... Of course I stand over that statement. My team worked day and night on this case and we were simply dealing with a very forensically aware killer. I won't apologise for this team when we've done everything we could have... Yes, sir... Yes... I am aware that we don't function in a bubble but do not go after my team for PR purposes... No I do not think I've overstepped the mark... With all due respect, sir, I don't think you would have caught him either... Yes. I'll speak to them now... Goodbye."

Out of habit he reaches for the Tiger Balm. It's going to be one of those days. After taking a minute to compose himself he goes out to face his team. "Emerson, can you go into You Tube please. Our killer has made a confession. Search for Easter Martyrs with the username MaryMagdalene. All one word but with a 4 instead of an r in Mary."

Kent finds the video and they all stand round him to watch it. On screen a brunette woman who looks to be in her early 40s holds a bible. For ten minutes she quotes scripture and details each kill. She describes details from each house and the order of the killings makes the team realise they got some of them out of order. She doesn't once show remorse or offer condolences. They can see the bible has post it notes stuck to different pages. She obviously knew exactly which scripture she wanted to quote. She tells them that as she is representative of Mary Magdalene she too will be a martyr and that they can find her seven doors away from the house with the blue floral carpet. When it finishes You Tube helpfully suggests similar videos.

"Fuck me," Mansell says.

Joe laughs despite himself. "Quite. The super just laid into us over this but I told him in no uncertain terms that this team did its best. I assume she was referring to Mr Babilola's carpet. Better get round there and see who lived seven doors either side of him."

Miles turns. "I'll go. Coming, sir?"

"Yes. Riley and Mansell too. We should canvas the neighbours."

"And me, sir?"

Joe turns to his youngest team member. Miles offers to wait outside, thankfully.

"Are you excluding me because we are in a fight?"

Joe shakes his head. "In a fight is better than over which I feared but no I'm not excluding you. I am sorry, so sorry for snapping at you in a moment of frustration. I hoped my apology might have worked."

"What apology?"

"With the Easter eggs. The ones I gave the team. I stuck names on them because I put a note in yours."

Kent blushes. "Shit. Shit. Why'd you do that? I was cross with you so I gave my egg to Miles to take home for the kids."

Now Joe blushes. "Let's hope he intercepted it. I wanted you to stay behind and download the video. Is there a way to make a copy onto the computer?"

"Yeah. It's easy. I'll do it, _sir_."

"Joe."

"Not yet. Can we talk after work?"

"I'd really like that."

Outside he finds Miles and decides to say nothing about the note. If Miles was going to bring it up he would have done so already and it's embarrassing enough without discussing the issue. 

Half an hour later they force entry to a house and find the recently deceased Mary, real name Ann Donovan. There's a note next to her body.

 _My sacrifice is a little late as arrangements had to be made for the care of my pets. God please forgive my lateness and know that I served you well during my time on Earth_.

Miles has a few choice words over her concern for her pets when she murdered twelve people. A SOCO team take everything worth taking from the house and the team get to go back to the office. A look at her correspondence and her bible give them no further answers. Apart from the neighbour being a possible crime of convenience they're still at a loss as to how she killed an entire family and spend the day ignoring their phones because journalists want answers. The higher ups do too because nobody thought it could be a woman doing these awful things. It's frustrating to have a puzzle with no solution because the only one who could explain her logic is now dead. The only upside is getting out at a proper hour. Joe waits in his office for Emerson to come to him. He doesn't have to wait long.

"Here or yours?"

"Mine if you've no objections."

Emerson nods. "I'm not staying though. This is not me giving in."

"Okay." He has to allow Emerson that even if he is a little disappointed. "Let's go."

The car journey is quiet and the first few minutes in his place are tense with him offering every possible drink imaginable to be polite. After Emerson firmly says no to tea, coffee, water, wine, beer and vodka Joe finally sits down.

"My sorry doesn't lessen with repetition. I was tired and under pressure and you tried to help. I shouldn't have spoken to you that way."

"I'm the youngest and someone has to be. I'm the one who goes outside and cries, the one who seems to take things hardest when I know it fucks everyone else up too. I can handle teasing but I didn't know the age difference mattered so much to you. You're not even that much older but if you think I'm some stupid kid then we won't work. It's obvious to the whole bloody lot of them that I pretty much hero worship you but not so much that I'd stay with someone who doesn't respect me. I'm good at my job."

Joe is a little taken aback at the tone of Emerson's voice. He hadn't meant to imply anything. "I know you are. I don't keep people on my team because I fancy them."

"You said you needed to work late and that I should leave you alone and go home if it was past my bedtime."

Emerson has a point and Joe tries to take his hand but is rebuffed.

"I never intended to upset you. I didn't make that specific comment because of your age, just because you were cranky with me and you had every right to be. I crave order and perfection and when I can't control something like a case it gets on top of me. Dirt can be cleaned away, a stained shirt can be changed but mental stress can't be wiped away. I don't think of you as too young or as a baby and I agree that you probably show more emotion than the others who just deal with it differently. If the cases stopped getting to us I'd be worried. Can you give me another chance?"

Emerson moves closer and takes Joe's hand. "I want to but what about next time? I was trying to make sure you got some rest. If I care about you, is that going to make me the bad guy?"

"No. I'll try to keep it in check. I've missed you so much."

Emerson kisses him and it feels so good. Relief surges through him and then Emerson pulls away.

"Do you want to have dinner before I go?"

"Go?"

"Told you I wasn't staying and I'm a man of my word. Tomorrow maybe or Wednesday but I'm not going to let you get your own way all the time."

Joe nods. "Okay. Dinner then. I'll check the fridge." Going through to the kitchen he smiles to himself. At least something is going his way.


End file.
